Bloody Jim

PART 1 - stoking the fire

His last words were etched into my mind from that night forward. I would have never thought I would be doing what i did that night; But from what has happened over the past few years, the apocolypse and all, I shouldn't expect anything to be "normal."

Jim's arms were stretched off to his left and right side and his wirsts were shackled to the stone table using thick straps of leather. His hands draped over the edge of the stone table, seemingly lifeless. The rest of the tribe, those who struggled to walk themselves across the brutal and snowy tribal land to get to the communal fire pit that evening, all sat around the table on which Jim laid with hungry and anxious looks on their faces. Nobody had tasted meat in many moons; ...no meat of any kind.

It was evident to the chief, days earlier, that if he didnt provide a good meal to the members, his life and tribe would be in danger of an uprising or revolt. This seemed like the perfect solution since the almighty 247 Legged One hadn't been answering any of his requests. Jim had no connections inside the tribe; His wife and kids had died off long ago during one of the harsh winters when the tribe was just settling down and had become somewhat of a loner afterwards. Other tribe memebers actually noticed his actions becoming more and more bizzare. His days were spent walking around the tribe naked or trying to clean out the dirt from under his finger and toe nails down by the river. Sometimes he would just take off for the day and come back late in the evening with a purple, pink, or other bright colored flower in his hair, skipping back to his teepee. Clearly not benefiting anyone or anything in the tribe and, honestly, freaking some people out. Nobody from the tribe had ever even thought about eating another member of the tribe. It was the last thing on peoples minds until the chief had brought it up a few days ago. The idea eventually grew on everyone, though, especially when food storages dried up and the snow began to fall and cover every inch of land. Jim was quickly appointed to be the first to be eaten.

The number of tribe members which now circled Jim had since doubled. More and more people trickled in from the villages around the tribal lands; Each wanted to partake in a nice, wholesome meal. The fire pit was stoked with many logs, which the villagers gathered and piled up specifically for this event, and the flames roared and crackled 10 feet high. Everything was perfect for the event: A warm, blazing fire and a warm, meaty man.

(a loud clashing sound suddenly erupts from back behind the crowd)

The crowd's attention suddenly turned from Jim to back behind them. The crowd parted and the Chief walked slowly towards the stone table in the center of the crowd. He handed a symbol and stick, which he held, to one of the men walking beside him and continued to the stone table, slowing his pace as he neared.